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Onions are a biennial, so must winter over for seed. Each Onion will produce beautiful white flower balls that become seed pods. Just let dry and then shuck the little black seeds out. Leeks likewise. Only the Gypsy Onion plant can winter over and attempts to propagate by runners. Garlic has been domesticated so long that its seed is often no longer viable. But Garlic can produce black seeds from its flowers. An alternate means of propagating is reproduction from cloves. Plant a clove in the spring, and by late Fall that clove will have become a Garlic bunch.



All Cabbage is biennial except for Bok Choy, the Chinese Cabbage that is an annual. Green Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Cauliflower – all must Winter over. Bring a few healthy plants indoors, with roots attached, and cut back or prune the tops. Keep roots covered in a cool dark place until spring. Transplant outside in the Spring and up will come the seed stalks with little yellow flowers. Harvest the pods when dry, putting inside a cloth bag to dry. Do not allow the dry pods to shatter and spill the seed.



Carrots, Turnip, Beets, and Parsnip are root plants that are also biennials. Beets are particularly nutritious and are prolific seed producers. Radish also needs to Winter over. When transplanting in the Spring, make sure the entire root is covered. Other popular vegies that are biennial are the Chards and Celery.



What have we not covered? Oh yes, the perennials. Plants that do not die after a year, like the annuals, or die after their second year when they go to seed, are called perennials. The Rhubarb patch, famous for Rhubarb pie, and the Asparagus patch. Horseradish, Ginger Root, and Artichoke are all perennial once established. These plants do produce seed, but a gardener normally establishes a patch by getting a chunk of the plant, with well-established roots, from a vendor or neighbor.



Berry bushes, like Raspberry, Blueberry, or Blackberry are also perennials. They lob over branches that are called vines that will produce new plants where they touch the ground, thus the infamous berry thicket. Aggressive pruning of deadwood is required to prevent a thicket from forming. Fruit trees like Apple, Peach, Cherry and Plumb can be established from seed, salvaged from the fruit sold at the grocer, or by buying young trees from a vendor. They are covered in flowers in the Spring, and each flower becomes a fruit. Nut trees likewise can be established in this manner.



If you find yourself in a situation where you cannot buy seed, as many found this past Spring during the pandemic lockdowns, then consider jumping into seed saving by planting a cutting from the grocer. Get a bag of soil and jump start your gardening skills. Cloning goes by many names, such as cuttings. To reproduce a Grape vine, cut a stem and put the bottom part in water. Rooting solution helps to encourage this process, but technically not needed. Roots form on the bottom and then the cutting is planted. One can start a Strawberry patch from a slice of a Strawberry. Or get seed from some Green Onions placed in water. Or root a Garlic clove or a piece of Potato. Then from this living plant, seed production can start.

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https://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blo ... il-23-2023